Disposable rain poncho

ABSTRACT

A disposable rain poncho formed of thin plastic. The poncho consists of a large rectangle of the sheet material formed with various perforations to define a center slit for the user&#39;&#39;s head, ties along the sides, and two optional features of tear-offs at the ends to adjust length and holes at the ends of the various perforations to disperse stress.

United States Patent [151 3,665,5 1 8 Leadford 1 May 30, 1972 54] DISPOSABLE RAIN PONCHO 3,032,773 5/1962 Piazze ..2/49 1,569,960 1/1926 Geisler.... ....2/88 [721 pmsburgh' P 3,146,464 9/1964 Burnett ..2 49 [73] Assignee: Gulf Oil Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Primary Examiner-James R. Boler [22] F'led: 1970 AttorneyMeyer Neishloss, Deane E. Keith and William [21] Appl. No.: 65,493 Kovensky ABSTRACT I ..2 88, 2 49, 87

g U A41 d g 54 A disposable rain poncho formed of thin plastic. The poncho [58] Field 2/88 87 1 14 69 consists of a large rectangle of the sheet material formed with various perforations to define a center slit for the user's head, ties along the sides, and two optional features of tear-offs nt [56] References Cited the ends to adjust length and holes at the ends of the various UNlTED STATES PATENTS perforations to disperse stress.

2,620,477 12/1952 Ackerman, Jr. et al. ..2/87 8 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure f 24 1 i 24 1 i f l 1' z I 24 ,li/zo 20 22= M l" PATENTEBMAY 30 I972 3.665.518

' 4 /0 I I ./"/2 /2 I I z I J I 24 T U l/VVf/VTOR. 22=

l JON/V L. LEADFORD DISPOSABLE RAIN PONCHO This invention relates to rainwear, and more in particular, it pertains to a poncho which is of such a nature that it may be easily carried, used once, and then thrown away.

Conventional rain gear, such as fabric rain coats, umbrellas, and the like, are clumsy, relatively heavy, and impose the burden on' a user of-having to carry them before, during, and after their time of use. Additionally, once wet, conventional'rain gear becomes annoying to handle. Plastic rain coats presently on the market are not disposable in the sense that they are relatively expensive and are made to be reused. Thus, such plastic rain gannents suffer from the same disadvantage as 7 conventional rain garments.

The present invention provides a poncho preferably formed of light, thin, relatively inexpensive plastic material which may be easily folded into a small packet and carried in a pocket or purse at all times. In event of need, the packet is opened, the poncho used, and then simply discarded.

Other advantages of the invention will be pointed out or will become evident in the following detailed description and claims, and in the accompanying drawing also forming a part of the disclosure, in which the sole FIGURE is a plan view of a poncho embodying the invention.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, reference numeral 10 indicates a poncho embodying the invention. Rain garment 10 is of generally elongated rectangular shape, and comprises a pair of side edges 12 and a pair ofend edges 14. As an indication of size and not as a limitation, it is thought that commercial ponchos as shown could measure about 3 .feet by 8 feet. H

At its midpoint and generally parallel to the end edges, the rain poncho of the invention is formed with a perforation defining a slit 16 which, in use, the user will open and then pull over his head. As shown in the drawing, the poncho 10 is symmetrical about center perforation or slit l6, and accordingly is formed with two pairs of upper tie forming perforations l8, and two pairs of lower end tie forming perforations 20, making eight tie forming perforations in all. In use, the user will break all the perforations, slip his head through slit l6, and then tie the tabs or integral ties formed by the perforations 18 and 20 together, to thereby secure the poncho over his normal clothing under his arms at or above the waist and at about the vicinity ofhis knees.

It will be understood that the drawing is not to scale, certain parts being exaggerated for the sake of clarity.

Persons of different heights can be accommodated in one of two ways. Firstly, the ponchos can be manufactured and sold in different sizes, for example, long, medium, and short. Alternatively, as shown in the figure as an optional feature, sets of additional perforations 22, parallel to the end edges 14 and at spaced distances therefrom, could be provided. If this optional feature of perforation lines 22 is provided, then the poncho would be made in the long size, and shorter persons could simply tear off some of the length of the poncho at the lines 22 to produce new end edges 14 and a shorter poncho, as is obvious. While the optional feature of perforations 22 would cost the manufacturer a little more in material, this disadvantage would probably be more than outweighed by the savings in producing only one size.

It is contemplated that ponchos embodying the invention would best be manufactured from very light gauge polyethylene, for example, of a thickness similar to that used in the protective covers used by dry cleaning establishments.

that it would cause the poncho to cling to the user thus better protecting him and tending to decrease the efiect a wind might have tending to blow the poncho about and/or off the user.

The invention is not limited to any particular type of material. The poncho of the invention could be made of any natural or synthetic water repellent material so long as said material is inexpensive enough to achieve the advantage of disposability, and is thin enough and of such a nature that it may be easily folded into a small package for easy carrying. Suitable materials, by way of example but not as limitations, would include natural or synthetic rubber, polyolefins such as polyethylene and. polypropylene; polymerizable vinyl monomers such as vinyl acetate; or copolymers of various polymerizable monomers.

Another optional feature are the small round or other shape holes 24 at the ends of all perforations 16, 18 and 20. Holes 24 may be provided, if desired, for the purpose of dissipating stresses which may occur at the ends of perforations to thus decrease the tendency of the sheet material of which the poncho is made to tear at these locations. The holes 24 may or may not be provided, and are therefore optional, depending upon the nature of the material, economic factors, and the like.

It will be understood that the feature of perforations 22 and holes 24 are separable and either one or both may or may not be used in any particular embodiment.

The locations, shapes, and lengths of the perforations l8 and 20 as shown are exemplative only and not to scale, it being understood that, again with regard to the nature of the material, different lengths and thicknesses of ties may be required. Similarly, different lengths and thicknesses of ties may be required as to the upper ties 18 compared to the lower ties 20.

Whilethe invention has been described in detail above, it is to be understood that this detailed description is by way of example only, and the protection granted is to be limited only within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A poncho of generally elongated rectangular shape comprising a pair of side edges and a pair of end edges, said poncho being formed of sheet material, a center perforation formed in said poncho generally parallel to said end edges and mediately therebetween and terminating short of said side edges, integral tie means formed in said poncho along said side edges on opposite sides of said center perforation, at least one perforation extending generally parallel to each end edge in relatively closely spaced relation thereto and extending all the way between said side edges, and stress dispersing means integrally fonned in said poncho at the ends of said center perforation.

2. The combination of claim 1, said poncho consisting of relatively thin disposable sheet material.

3. The combination of claim 1, said integral tie means comprising an upper end tie forming perforation on each side of said center perforation and on both of said side edges.

4. The combination of claim 1, said integral tie means comprising a lower end tie forming perforation on each side of said center perforation and on both of said side edges.

5. The combination of claim 1, said poncho consisting of polyethylene.

6. The combination of claim 6, wherein the polyethylene has a thickness of about 0.001 inch.

7. The combination of claim 1, wherein said stress dispersing means comprise a small round hole at each end of said perforation.

8. The combination of claim 1, said integral tie means comprising an upper end tie forming perforation and a lower end tie forming perforation one on each side of said center perforation and on both of said side edges, and stress dispersing openings formed at the inner ends of all of said tie forming perforations. i 

1. A poncho of generally elongated rectangular shape comprising a pair of side edges and a pair of end edges, said poncho being formed of sheet material, a center perforation formed in said poncho generally parallel to said end edges and mediately therebetween and terminating short of said side edges, integral tie means formed in said poncho along said side edges on opposite sides of said center perforation, at least one perforation extending generally parallel to each end edge in relatively closely spaced relation thereto and extending all the way between said side edges, and stress dispersing means integrally formed in said poncho at the ends of said center perforation.
 2. The combination of claim 1, said poncho consisting of relatively thin disposable sheet material.
 3. The combination of claim 1, said integral tie means comprising an upper end tie forming perforation on each side of said center perforation and on both of said side edges.
 4. The combination of claim 1, said Integral tie means comprising a lower end tie forming perforation on each side of said center perforation and on both of said side edges.
 5. The combination of claim 1, said poncho consisting of polyethylene.
 6. The combination of claim 6, wherein the polyethylene has a thickness of about 0.001 inch.
 7. The combination of claim 1, wherein said stress dispersing means comprise a small round hole at each end of said perforation.
 8. The combination of claim 1, said integral tie means comprising an upper end tie forming perforation and a lower end tie forming perforation one on each side of said center perforation and on both of said side edges, and stress dispersing openings formed at the inner ends of all of said tie forming perforations. 